Italy Seizes Assets of Businessman In Sicily

By

Liam Moloney

April 3, 2013 5:27 p.m. ET

ROME—Italian authorities confiscated on Wednesday €1.3 billion ($1.68 billion) in assets from a Sicilian businessman specialized in renewable energy, police said, alleging that he is tied to one of the country's most wanted fugitives—an allegation his lawyer promptly denied.

The country's top law agency in charge of fighting organized crime, the Direzione Investigativa Antimafia, or DIA, said a court in Trapani had approved the seizure of 43 companies, including wind farms and photovoltaic facilities, 98 real-estate...